Putting Your Life in Perspectiveby Jenny Geary and Jason Stasyszen People have different views on everything. From parenting to chocolate chip cookie recipes, we may have very strong opinions about who is right and who is wrong. It is the way that God created us, but no opinion or perspective should lead you away from this important truth: Your life is valuable. That value increases for ourselves and the people around us as we live like Jesus called us to live.  Country music artist, Tim McGraw, sings a song called, Live Like You Were Dying. It tells the story of his father finding out he has brain cancer and only three weeks to live. According to an Associated Press article, Tim’s real-life father was ill when he first heard the song and he knew it would be the first single from his current album of the same name. "I went skydiving / I went Rocky Mountain climbing / I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Foo Man Chu," McGraw sings in the chorus. "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying." It is a simple sentiment, but powerful when we apply it. Only when he was told he would die did he decide to forgive all those he had refused to forgive for years and to love those he had held at a distance all his life.
What about us as Christians? What is it going to take for us to live like we were dying? What would we decide to do in our last week? We might tour the world and see all its beauty, call loved ones, hold dear friends, make relationships right, ask forgiveness, and get our hearts right with God. Dear brothers and sisters, we are only strangers in this world, and the Bible lets us know that unless we see Jesus’ return, we are all appointed a time to die. Some will live longer than others, but none of us truly know the full span of the years God has granted to us and our loved ones. Do not delay! Get with God and ask Him who or what you might be holding at arm’s length. What are you refusing to deal with, come clean in, or take responsibility for. God wants us to live free so that we can minister freedom to others. His plan is to see us walk in forgiveness so He can forgive us. Too many days we are so caught up in the stress of the moment that we find ourselves living in that stress not just an hour, but a day. That day can turn into a week, a month, or even years when we procrastinate in giving it up to God. That is certainly not what He wants for us! We must stand up, shake off all that is holding us in guilt, hurt, anger, and pride then begin to grow to be ministers of freedom to those around us. Pray to God as Moses did in Psalm 90:12 (NLT), “Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Live like you were dying! Live free, live forgiven, live happy, live in love, and live in deeper relationship with God. Put to death those things inside you that contend with your freedom, and guaranteed, you will experience the grace and fullness that comes as we give ourselves to obeying His voice. *Scriptures taken from the New Living Translation ©1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. | 
